HE Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) is asking for a budget of half a billion pesos for its operations next year, as the agency is keen on beefing up efforts to cut bureaucratic red tape in line with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law.
Arta Deputy Director General Ernesto V. Perez said he submitted a budget proposal of over P500 million to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Defending his request, he said the bulk of the fund will be allocated to operating expenses covering frontline services, trainings and payroll.
“Last Friday we submitted our budget proposal of more than P500 million to cover plantilla positions that have been approved by the DBM,” Perez told reporters on Tuesday.
“The bulk of this budget is really the operating expenses, like trainings for regulatory impact assessment [and] capacity building for government agencies. [It will also include] the expenses for complaint actions center, which will answer the complaints referred to us by other agencies or even anybody who filed a complaint with us [that we need to] act on,” he added.
According to Perez, the Arta is operating on a budget of P110 million secured from the Department of Trade and Industry’s coffers last year.
This was enough for the anti-red tape body to rent its office until December and sustain its labor force. However, this will not be enough next year, as the Arta expands its head count to 308 personnel, from 44 workers.
“It [proposed budget] will also cover those 308 personnel,
not only from the central office, but also [those from the] eight regional
offices that will be set up
eventually,” Perez explained.
Higher capital to work with will also give the Arta fiscal space to beef up its services. The Arta chief said half a billion pesos is enough to keep its legal and technical team, as well as improve its frontline services and anti-red tape measures.
The Arta is the lead implementer of the EODB law, as it is in charge of receiving complaints of bureaucratic red tape and acting on them in accordance with the law’s provisions.
However, one year after it was signed by President Duterte, the law, as well as the Arta, has yet to be fully functional.
The President has not yet appointed his anti-red tape czar, who, under the law, is the sole authority to issue the implementing rules and regulations, and lead the Arta.